


4A6F79: human custo[M]s

by antheeia



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I can't believe I wrote het fluff, Marriage Proposal, Post-Finale, Spoilers for Ending E, what is happening to me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 07:18:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11270697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antheeia/pseuds/antheeia
Summary: "2B, would you marry me?"9S finds an old romance novel. His fascination with unknown human customs does the rest.





	4A6F79: human custo[M]s

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OverTheTof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverTheTof/gifts).



> I wrote this yesterday evening in two hours after my friend told me "They have to marry each other". I don't usually write fluff but I guess there's a first time for everything.  
> I just love these two and I want them to be happy, okay? ;___;
> 
> (Someone in the comments of my other NieR: Automata fic had asked me to write 9S/2B smut. The time will come, fam, don't worry.)

In the mostly peaceful aftermath of their awakening, after the end of the war, the last YoHRa models 2B, 9S and A2 found themselves in a strange position: with no orders coming from above, with no one to control and supervise them, they were free, but also aimless. It took a while for them to adjust to that new way of life, but the simplicity of it was so calming that adapting to it was never a bother.

They all helped with rebuilding and by running errands for whoever asked. A2 still preferred working alone, and when she wasn't occupied doing someone a favour or spending time at Pascal’s Village (that was slowly getting repopulated with the remaining peaceful machines who were left), she loved to sit in high places alone and just look around. Rumor had it that — inspired by all the books she was reading together with Pascal — she had decided to write an autobiography. 2B remained her usual pragmatic self, and concentrated on helping gathering materials to repair buildings and fellow androids, and was content with spending her free time assisting 9S on his researches. The two lived together in a small room they had helped making usable again, and the days went by peaceful and mostly uneventful. Not to 2B surprise, it was 9S, his researches and his curiosity, that made some days taste different. With him, there was always something new to do, to study and to talk about: sometimes it was some strange chip he found, sometimes a plant he somehow considered incredibly fascinating, sometimes they were plans to rebuild stuff or to assemble spare parts.

But 9S’ most recent finding was nothing of the sort: it was just an old human book. It wasn't a scientific or philosophical document, it had no actual use: its purpose for humans was most likely entertainment. 2B didn't show much interest in it, and when YoHRa still existed, the scanner model used to just put files like that away somewhere and never look at them again; but now he had no obligations of the sort, and he was just too curious about what kind of things humans used to pass the time, so he decided to read it.

The book was about a troubled love story, and while reading, the android was struck by a particular concept: marriage. Apparently, the whole story centred on the wish of the two lovers to get married, which 9S didn't understand at first. It seemed they couldn't live together or even spend time with each other if they didn’t go through with this strange rite. Nothing was really stopping them, except the fact that everyone seemed to be convinced that ceremony was necessary in order for two people to truly love each other like they had to somehow show the world they were serious about their own feelings. But then, slowly, while the story in the book developed, the pieces came together and the meaning of that tradition became very clear: it was a celebration of love and a promise of eternal commitment. Humans swore faithfulness and love to each other as some kind of ritual that preceded the creation of a “family”.

That was how 9S’ in-depth research on this strange human custom came to be and how the concept started growing on him. And that was why, when one day 2B got home early and found him immersed in his reading, he couldn't help but ask her.

“2B, would you marry me?” He said, turning around to welcome her.

She looked at him with a confused expression: “What does that mean?”

“It's an old human custom. Humans used to “marry” the person they wished to commit themselves to for life. They held a ceremony, made promises to each other and celebrated their love.”

2B listened to him with interest but didn't seem as fascinated with the concept as her partner was. “Humans truly were strange. Couldn't they just stay together, or make promises without all the fuss?”

To say the truth, 9S agreed with her. To him, the whole thing just seemed ridiculous at first, but everything he read about it made it sound so meaningful and serious, so definitive, that he ended up feeling its appeal.

“Yes, they could”, he agreed, “but, to them, the difference was similar to the difference between a…” he stopped for a couple of seconds to think of an appropriate example, “between an informal report, and a complete, official one meant to be archived in the Server.”

2B thought about it for a moment that seemed almost endless to her partner, until she nodded, with a serious expression on her face. “So you mean that by ‘marrying’ each other we would be making official promises to each other.”

9S nodded enthusiastically, even more excited that he would have anticipated. “Humans called it ‘swearing eternal love’.” He added, quoting the books he had found, and slightly blushing when 2B’s face softened in a smile. That still got to him, every time.

There was a lot about their relationship that went unsaid. 2B wasn’t much the type for words and 9S had no wish to force them out of her. They just accepted the reality of those feelings, now that they weren’t prohibited anymore, and they called them ‘love’. That was a human word, too, and it was the name they gave to the strongest feeling of all. And the two androids, they just knew it was the right word for what they had. But marriage? 2B was probably going to laugh about that ridiculous request, dismissing it as a simple speculation on his part, 9S thought. She wouldn't have been exactly _wrong_ , but he still felt disappointed at the idea: it was stupid, but he still wished for her to accept. He had long since learned that not everything was logical, especially not one’s desires — after all the whole concept of desire was, in itself, illogical.

So he didn't expect 2B’s reply and the warm smile with which she whispered it, centimetres from his face.

“I’ll swear eternal love to you, then. Officially, this time.”

9S blushed so hard and his heartbeat got so frenetic so fast that for a moment he got worried that some of his parts could be malfunctioning or that some circuit somewhere had just got fried. But his worries just lasted for a moment, overcome by that intense happiness, and with a sudden movement, the scanner model hugged 2B and hid his face in her chest, his cheeks wet with sweet tears.

Suddenly he understood that the expression “crying of joy” wasn't just some kind of oxymoron.


End file.
